Retiring Columbus schools official fears he's data-rigging scapegoat

Thursday

Jan 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 17, 2013 at 12:54 PM

No Columbus school-district worker is thought to have altered more student records over the past few years than Michael L. Dodds. His name is tied to about 70,000 student absences deleted in less than six years and dozens of students withdrawn when they'd never really left.

Jennifer Smith Richards, The Columbus Dispatch

No Columbus school-district worker is thought to have altered more student records over the past few years than Michael L. Dodds.

His name is tied to about 70,000 student absences deleted in less than six years and dozens of students withdrawn when they’d never really left.

That’s what he’s going to be remembered for, Dodds lamented yesterday, not for all the kids he helped over his 26-year career as an educator or their parents who still, to this day, thank him for his work.

“It’s just dreadful how this went,” he said in an interview, his first since The Dispatch began reporting about the district’s widespread data manipulation in June. “ Unfortunately, this probably will define my career, but I don’t believe it should.”

He did nothing wrong, he said. He did not make many of the changes he’s accused of. And as for the changes he did make, he said he was coached by Steve Tankovich and that Superintendent Gene Harris couldn’t have been blind to the practice.

Dodds said he understood early on that he’d be the scapegoat for a district that is in deep trouble.

“It’s common knowledge: This is how the superintendent operates. I believe they (decided that they) were going to single me out, call me the bad egg, get rid of me, and the problem would be over,” he said.

In response to Dodds’ comments, Harris said, “He’s got his opinions, but that’s just his opinions.”

“Anything that is inappropriate I’m never going to stand behind,” she added.

Harris also said the district is “actively assessing” information related to other employees.

In a handwritten letter dated Jan. 11, addressed “To Whom It May Concern” and submitted to the district’s human-resources department, Dodds, 53, told the district that he’d be retiring on Friday. That’s the day he meets the state requirement to retire with full benefits.

He said yesterday that he wasn’t encouraged by Harris or the district’s attorneys to retire, and no one threatened to fire him.

Dodds began working as a science teacher in the district in 1987. As a principal, Dodds led Independence High School, where massive amounts of student data were changed during his tenure. Harris promoted him to regional executive director in 2009, a position in which he oversees 26 schools and makes more than $130,000 a year.

But for the past six months, Dodds has been suspended with pay. The only requirement of him was to be reachable by phone during regular business hours.

Tankovich, the data czar who current and former principals, data-center employees and the internal auditor have said oversaw the data-rigging, was moved to a different district job.

Dodds said Tankovich taught principals how to “correct and clean” data and led him to think it was allowed. Dodds said he did not make changes to improve schools’ standing on state report cards.

“I thought I was doing the right things and doing well,” he said. He said he assumed that Tankovich knew the rules.

Manipulating student data, either by withdrawing students when they’re absent too often or changing grades, is wrong, the state and internal auditors have said. State Auditor Dave Yost has said some Columbus employees will be referred for criminal prosecution. Public employees can lose the public contribution to their retirement benefits if they’re convicted of certain felony offenses, including theft in office and bribery.

No official has publicly said Dodds would be among those referred for prosecution.

Dodds said he can’t explain some of the data changes he’s reported to have made and thinks someone used his ID and password to the district’s computer system. It hadn’t been changed in years, he said.

The internal auditor said — and district computer logs show — that Dodds’ ID was used to change a student’s grade from failing to passing while he was a top-level administrator. He said he knows he did not change grades.

“Any chance I had at proving my innocence ... they came and took my computer from my office, off my desk. They had my calendars, so I can’t cross-check anything. I don’t have the data that they’re speaking of,” he said.

He said he spoke briefly with the lawyer hired by the district to conduct a separate investigation, but he said he never tried to clear his name. He said he felt it was a hopeless case because he had no evidence of his own to present.

Dodds said he doesn’t know what he’ll do after Friday.

Dispatch reporter Bill Bush contributed to this story.

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com

@jsmithrichards

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.